Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud led the games and all of syndication in the week ended January 22, which included the Martin Luther King Jr., holiday on Monday, January 16.
CBS Media Ventures’s just-renewed Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune topped everything during the week. Jeopardy! stayed put with a 5.9 live-plus-same-day national household rating, according to Nielsen, making it 16 straight weeks at the top of the chart. Wheel forged ahead 4% to a new season-high 5.6 to take the number-two slot for the seventh time in eight weeks. Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud inched up 2% to match its season-high 5.1.
Fox’s 25 Words or Less and You Bet Your Life with host Jay Leno were both stable at a 0.7. Leno reportedly suffered broken bones in a recent motorcycle accident, not long after being released from the hospital where he was treated for facial burns suffered in a garage fire.
CBS’s freshman game Pictionary, starring Jerry O’Connell, erased 20% to a 0.4, tying Allen Media Group’s Funny You Should Ask, which advanced 33%.
Among the rookie talkers, Nielsen revised its previous week’s rating for Debmar-Mercury’s talk newcomer Sherri, increasing its rating 33% in the week ended January 15 to a new season-high 0.8. The increase came after three weeks of reruns and four weeks of retitled programs during the World Cup soccer tournament.
In this week’s ratings, Sherri was broken out of the ratings on Monday, and thus was not hurt by MLK holiday preemptions. In the week ended January 22, Sherri slipped 13% to a 0.7, on par with its premiere week and 11 of the past 15 regularly titled weeks.
Unlike Sherri, all five days were counted in the ratings average of Warner Bros.’ Jennifer Hudson.That show still managed to hold its ground at a 0.6 despite extensive losses of its primary run on Monday including in eight of the top ten markets and all of the top five on Martin Luther King Jr. day.
NBCU’s Karamo maintained its season high 0.4 for a fifth straight week with a full five day average despite having its primary run preempted in 12 of the top 48 markets on Martin Luther King Jr., Day.
Among the veteran talkers, Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan led for the 19th straight week with a steady 1.7. CBS’ Dr. Phil was second at a stable 1.5.
NBCUniversal’s Kelly Clarkson, the week’s third most-watched talk show, was the only show in the category to improve week to week, increasing 11% to a four-week high 1.0. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Live led with a 0.6, followed by Dr. Phil at a 0.5 and CBS’ Drew Barrymore at a 0.4, which was a new series high in the demographic for that show.
Following Clarkson, Disney’s Tamron Hall, Drew Barrymore, CBS’ Rachael Ray and NBCU’s conflict talker Steve Wilkos, NBCU’s out-of-production Maury, and NBCU’s Jerry Springer court- and-talk combo all were in line with the prior week’s 0.8, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5 and 0.3, respectively.
CBS’s pair of magazine leaders both declined, with Inside Edition losing 4% to a 2.3 and Entertainment Tonight, which was awarded a season high after the Golden Globes in the previous week, easing 85 to a 2.2. NBCU’s Access Hollywood heated up 13% to a new season-high 0.9. Fox’s TMZ also hit a season high, swelling 14% to a 0.8. Warner Bros.’ Extra, which lost some of its runs to holiday basketball on Fox in several large markets on Fox on Monday, gave back 14% from its previous week’s season high to a 0.6. Fox’s Dish Nation nailed a 0.2 for the 38th time in the last 39 regularly titled weeks.
Repeats of CBS’s Judge Judy led the court shows despite a 2% dip to a 4.3. CBS’ Hot Bench elevated 8% to a 1.3. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court held firm at a 0.8 for a fifth week. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis skidded 17% to a 0.5, tying Fox’s Divorce Court, which held at a 0.5 for a fifth consecutive week. Wrigley Media’s Relative Justice jumped 33% to a 0.4. Allen Media Group’s freshman gaveler We the People with Judge Lauren Lake locked in a 0.3 for a ninth straight week. On Monday, Allen Media Group officially announced that Equal Justice with Eboni K Williams would join its raft of court shows this fall.
Trifecta’s rookie true crime strip iCrime with Elizabeth Vargas stayed at a 0.5 for the fifth week in a row.
Warner Bros.’s The Big Bang Theory expanded 5% to a new season-high 2.1. Disney’s Last Man Standing spiked 10% to a 1.1. Disney’s Modern Family and Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men and Young Sheldon all stood pat at a 0.8, 0.7 and 0.7, respectively. Disney’s Family Guy and Sony Pictures Television’s The Goldbergs both gained 17% to tie Sheldon and Men. Sony’s Seinfeld and CBS’ newcomer The Neighborhood both stayed at a 0.6 for a seventh and sixth straight week, respectively. Finally, Disney’s American Housewife and Warner Bros.’s Mom both moved up 33% to a 0.4 to tie Disney’s Black-ish, which broke even for the fifth time in six weeks. ■
